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The AirPods 4 have noise cancelling, but does it matter?
Apple just dropped the new AirPods 4, stating it relied on “thousands of ears” and “advanced modeling tools” for its latest design while retaining its open-ear style, but what caught our attention was its new mid-tier option. At $179, you’ll be able to snag the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancelling.
However, considering its open-ear fit, which certainly has its place with users who don’t want that “plugged up” feeling they get with some ear-tips, with an unsealed fit, will you be able to rely on the new AirPods 4 with ANC to cancel out the hustle and bustle of the world around you?
Great noise canceling starts with a great seal, and with so many different ears shapes out there, if you’re diving into the new AirPods 4 with ANC as your first pair of AirPods for your daily commute, you might be in for a bit of a gamble. Not to mention those planning on using them for a workout. Introducing sweat and movement to an open-ear design is just asking for movement, which is no help for quality noise canceling performance.
Getting a good seal is essential for passive isolation, and that usually starts with ear tips that actually prevent noise from getting to your ear canal. Without silicon ear tips, like those found on the AirPods Pro (2nd generation), the regular AirPods can not physically prevent noise from traveling down your ear canal. The noise canceling is going to have to do some serious heavy lifting to compete with proper noise canceling earbuds.
You need a good seal to block out noise
We can see that Apple doesn’t have a ton of faith in the noise canceling capabilities of the new AirPods, as evidenced by the fact that only the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) are getting the new hearing health features. If you want to protect your ears or use your AirPods as a hearing aid, Apple only recommends using the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) and not the AirPods 4.
Apple isn’t the first company to try putting noise canceling in an open-ear design. In fact, just a few months ago, Samsung tried it with the Galaxy Buds3. How did those fair in our testing lab? Not great. We found that the lack of a proper seal rendered the active noise canceling pretty much useless, with an average reduction in loudness of only 35%.
After our difficulties getting a decent fit, performance, and sound quality results with the Samsung Galaxy Buds3, which have a similar open-ear design, we can’t help but expect more of the same with the new AirPods 4 with ANC. That said, stay tuned for our full review coming soon to see how the noise canceling performs in our lab.
